Pulse plugs..., who's heard of and/or using them? |
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Pulse plugs..., who's heard of and/or using them? |
dbgriffith75 |
Jun 5 2008, 12:48 PM
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#1
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TheGrif Group: Members Posts: 509 Joined: 25-July 07 From: Iowa, USA Member No.: 7,945 Region Association: Upper MidWest |
So I was at the auto parts store today picking up some new tools, and as I was standing at the counter I noticed a layout advertisement for a newly designed spark plug called a "pulse plug." Basically its the same concept as a spark plug, only with an added internal capacitor to create a spark 10 times more powerful than your average plug. It's supposed to burn feul more efficiently, resulting in increased mileage, HP and torque.
I was just curious if anybody's heard of and/or using them, and if it actually holds up to the claims? I'm not specifically talking about a 914 either, because I wouldn't mind using them in my DD if it's really true. Here's the website I found on them: http://www.pulstarplug.com Thoughts? |
dbgriffith75 |
Jun 5 2008, 02:22 PM
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#2
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TheGrif Group: Members Posts: 509 Joined: 25-July 07 From: Iowa, USA Member No.: 7,945 Region Association: Upper MidWest |
QUOTE I don't get it. They say these plugs "store incoming electrical energy from the ignition system." Where is it getting extra power to "store up" and then release? A plug only gets power when the dizzy sends it, and then it gets all there is to get. I don't see how these things could store and release more power if no more is being sent to them. That's what a capacitor does. To put it a little more plainly, if you've got something you need power to, say an electric motor, but the power source you have is inadequate, adding a capacitor to the circuit would store the power until its sufficient to run the motor. That's not a very good example but that's the basic idea. Pulstar is claiming the same thing- by delivering more power to the electrodes in the plug, you are essentially getting a bigger spark and theoretically, a more efficient burn. Go to this website if you're still unclear on the details: http://electronics.howstuffworks.com/capacitor.htm |
r_towle |
Jun 5 2008, 03:38 PM
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#3
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Custom Member Group: Members Posts: 24,585 Joined: 9-January 03 From: Taxachusetts Member No.: 124 Region Association: North East States |
QUOTE I don't get it. They say these plugs "store incoming electrical energy from the ignition system." Where is it getting extra power to "store up" and then release? A plug only gets power when the dizzy sends it, and then it gets all there is to get. I don't see how these things could store and release more power if no more is being sent to them. That's what a capacitor does. To put it a little more plainly, if you've got something you need power to, say an electric motor, but the power source you have is inadequate, adding a capacitor to the circuit would store the power until its sufficient to run the motor. That's not a very good example but that's the basic idea. Pulstar is claiming the same thing- by delivering more power to the electrodes in the plug, you are essentially getting a bigger spark and theoretically, a more efficient burn. Go to this website if you're still unclear on the details: http://electronics.howstuffworks.com/capacitor.htm This is what the coil is already doing. Currently, at higher rpms, the stock coil, and even the blue coil, dont have enough time to recharge the coil/capacitor as it is currently engineered. Where is the extra, spare electricity coming from to charge the capacitor in the plug??? Not saying they dont work, but I would question if they would help or hurt the type of ignition system (coil/condensor) that we typically run now. With an MSD type system or other multi spark system, it would work, those have more stored energy already. Rich |
ericread |
Jun 5 2008, 04:10 PM
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#4
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The Viper Blue 914 Group: Members Posts: 2,177 Joined: 7-December 07 From: Irvine, CA (The OC) Member No.: 8,432 Region Association: Southern California |
QUOTE I don't get it. They say these plugs "store incoming electrical energy from the ignition system." Where is it getting extra power to "store up" and then release? A plug only gets power when the dizzy sends it, and then it gets all there is to get. I don't see how these things could store and release more power if no more is being sent to them. That's what a capacitor does. To put it a little more plainly, if you've got something you need power to, say an electric motor, but the power source you have is inadequate, adding a capacitor to the circuit would store the power until its sufficient to run the motor. That's not a very good example but that's the basic idea. Pulstar is claiming the same thing- by delivering more power to the electrodes in the plug, you are essentially getting a bigger spark and theoretically, a more efficient burn. Go to this website if you're still unclear on the details: http://electronics.howstuffworks.com/capacitor.htm This is what the coil is already doing. Currently, at higher rpms, the stock coil, and even the blue coil, dont have enough time to recharge the coil/capacitor as it is currently engineered. Where is the extra, spare electricity coming from to charge the capacitor in the plug??? Not saying they dont work, but I would question if they would help or hurt the type of ignition system (coil/condensor) that we typically run now. With an MSD type system or other multi spark system, it would work, those have more stored energy already. Rich One more time.... A capacitor is a battery that automatically discharges at a specified value. The capacitor collects energy during the pulse from the distributor (out of the coil/condensor). It then discharges out at a higher value. How does it do this??? It sparks for a much shorter time at a higher voltage. You are right, there's no free lunch... You cannot "create" energy. Energy out = energy in - inefficiencies. So, the capacitor collects the charge for the length of the distributor provided pulse, then discharges it out in at a higher voltage and for a shorter duration through the spark plug gap. The total energy is actually less than the original pulse from the distributor. But since it for a shorter duration, it has a higher value. If we have to, we can go to the "buckets of water from a hose" analogy, but I don't think anybody wants that... So the question remains, is it better to have a hotter spark, or a longer duration spark that's cooler? |
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